KCB Group profit after tax grew by Sh200 million in the nine months to September this year compared to a similar period last year.

The lender’s profit expanded to Sh30.7 billion from Sh30.5 million.

While its assets rose to Sh2.1 trillion, the balance sheet expanded by 64.5 percent from Sh1.28 trillion on the back of the consolidation of DRC-based subsidiary Trust Merchant Bank (TMB), which was acquired in December 2022, and organic growth.

Despite tough economic and market environments, the group’s diversified income went up by 27.3 percent to Sh117.3 billion, driven by non-funded income.

Likewise, the contribution of group businesses (excluding KCB Bank Kenya) to overall profitability was up to 27.9 percent from 16.4 percent as investments in regional businesses continued to pay off.

“We have had a rather difficult nine months due to a tough operating environment that has negatively affected our customers. Our performance was borne out of diligent implementation of our strategy, which saw us close the 16% gap in PBT from Quarter 2 performance,” Group CEO Paul Russo said.

“Our focus has been on speedy and sustainable resolution of our customers’ pain points and ringfencing the business to guarantee long-term growth,” he added.

“It is upon this premise that we continuously innovated and delivered products with leading value propositions, in line with our resolve on opening doors of opportunities for all.”

Looking ahead, its Chairman, Joseph Kinyua, said: “This performance demonstrates the agility and strength of the financial institution which we have built over the years.”

“We have deliberately continued to build strong governance and risk management frameworks to cushion the business against shocks and to guarantee shareholder returns,” Kinyua said.

“While we continue to operate in a tough operating environment, our subsidiaries have shown great resilience.”